The tactics, the schemes, the concepts, the philosophies, the scripts, the scores, the Adanese covercianese, the diagonals, the transitions, the positive and negative alignments, the fourths and fifths, the intermediate stages, the subpoints.
What about the player, what about the technique, what about the levels? Why does one footballer cost a million and another billion (Mbappé)? Why don’t Belotti or Scamacca score like Lautaro? Why is Messi hiding it from you at 35 and do you have to go to a lawyer to find it? Why was the Italian ten sitting on the shoulders of a “temporarily absent” Bernardeschi (never happened before) who was substituted after 45 minutes? And why did Dybala, another of (un)put who until a few days ago played with the Italian 10, stepped up in the nineties and scored a fantastic goal in two minutes?
In football, as in life, there are categories, levels, values, carats. In a word, the difference in thickness, which in some cases creates depressions.
See Wednesday. The loss to Argentina must not be dismissed as an end-of-cycle or end-of-season accident: it is a blow that can mark the point of no return if we don’t give up the chatter to move on facts. By importing foreigners, neglecting our youth and looking at tactics in front of the interpreter, we surprisingly find ourselves European champions, but much less surprisingly, emerging from the World Cup for the second year in a row.
We also have very well trained trainers because they have to be content with ideas. Because of this, they always win when they go abroad to lead the “good guys.” I’ve always thought, even at unsuspecting times, that Guardiola is very good, but that his tiki-taka would have been much less effective without Messi’s dribbling and superiority: and in any case, he also had Xavi, Iniesta, Pujol, Piqué , coach in the field. And I have no intention of resuming awkward talk about Sacchi at Milan, those Milan people, because I respect Arrigo and I think he brought discipline and a work ethic to football.
In this very sad phase of ours, it is necessary to return to the player, to endure other defeats, other sacrifices, to regain the lost ground through clear planning.
So let’s start with the basics. We prohibit the abuse of youth coach tactics. Instructors who need to think about the future of the boys before theirs. We need the separation of careers, like in the judiciary: whoever is concerned with the future of Italian football must only think about preparing good players.
From time to time we show our babies the videos of Modric, Kroos and Benzema pressed by Liverpool in the Paris final, the precision of their passes, the rhythm given by the circulation of the ball, the stop of Karim before the unapproved gate . Technology, technology, technology. Let’s start with the roots and then add the elements of evolution. In order to optimally develop the manager’s ideas, you need players who are able to understand and simplify them. And simplicity is a trait of the best, of those who handle the ball naturally. On the other hand, instinct and talent are trained.
The future and stability are built at home, especially when, like now, you no longer have the resources to focus on the ever-dwindling and ever-expensive gems of the market.
For too long we journalists fed ourselves with exaggerations, overestimations, slight enthusiasm: four goals are enough to elevate the rookie to the champion. Then our “product” compares itself to that of others, shows itself for what it really is, and we casually tear it down. And we practice “myopia”: For example, we don’t realize that our best youngsters, Scamacca and Raspadori, are only two or three years younger than Lautaro.
hp Today Francesco De Core, deputy editor of this newspaper until mid-May, takes over the management of Il Mattino, the historic newspaper of Naples. Francesco left good memories and a void: I wish him (we wish him) that he gets all the satisfactions he aspires to.
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